NC Capitol Wrap

Nearly the entire country voted more pro-Trump in the 2024 elections compared to 2020, but only one other state had a smaller rightward shift than North Carolina. Republicans are celebrating that win and their continued dominance of the state's judicial elections. But Democrats see a silver lining in the fact that the state didn't trend as far right as other states, which was part of the reason why Democrats won half the Council of State offices including governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction with Josh Stein, Jeff Jackson and Mo Green. And did Hurricane Helene cost Republicans their supermajority in the state legislature? Democrats and Republicans alike say it might have. A closer look at the Asheville-area Democrat who won a heavily pro-Trump district.

The final round of polls from WRAL News and SurveyUSA released in this final week of early voting, as more than half of all voters have now already cast a ballot, breaking the record set in 2020 for early voting. The polls show an evenly tied presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in North Carolina, and both candidates plan to return to the Tar Heel State this weekend for the final push in the 2024 election. Other races, such as for Attorney General and the NC-01 US House seat, appear to also be coming down to the wire. The governor's race between Josh Stein and Mark Robinson shows a large lead for Stein. Reporters Will Doran and Paul Specht break down the poll results and the key races to watch in North Carolina that are flying under the radar, like for control of the state legislature. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

As influential Republicans in the most pro-Trump wings of the party suggest a Kamala Harris victory in North Carolina will be illegitimate due to potential voting difficulties in western North Carolina. But state elections officials say voter turnout in Helene-hit counties is actually higher than the state average so far. And in a North Carolina campaign stop, Trump running mate JD Vance doesn't agree, telling WRAL the most important thing is just making sure everyone can vote. We look into what state elections officials, and the state legislature, are doing to make that happen. The legislature also passed hundreds of millions in new Helene funding. But it was billions less than Gov. Roy Cooper suggested. So what got left out? What did they agree on? And what's next? The full breakdown and more.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is suing CNN for defamation. Multiple lawyers, including the man who won $1.4 billion from Alex Jones and InfoWars, spoke with WRAL about the lawsuit's chances of success and what more we can expect from legal procedings before the election. Meanwhile, NC voters set a new record for the first day of early voting even amid new efforts to spread misinformation about elections and Hurricane Helene. Some Democratic members of Congress think Russia and China may be behind some of the misinformation; Republican Party officials were also dinged by a federal judge for their own claims about election integrity, which underpinned a lawsuit he said could harm democracy in North Carolina. We catch up on the news surrounding the attorney general race and Michele Morrow's campaign for superintendent of schools, plus former Gov. Pat McCrory's new voter-trust initiative.

NC lawmakers came back to Raleigh this week to pass the first round of relief funding for Helene. The bill, signed into law Thursday, also extends flexibility to boards of election in the 25 counties included under the federal disaster declaration. Meantime, political tempers are rising over misinformation about the state and federal response to the storm and about the security of the upcoming election.

It's been just over a week since CNN reported on comments North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson allegedly made on pornographic website Nude Africa praising Hitler, calling himself a "Black NAZI" and using slurs to talk about Martin Luther King Jr., among other topics. Donald Trump's campaign has since tried to distance itself from the Republican candidate for governor Trump endorsed and has heaped praise upon, and other GOP politicians have called on Robinson to do more to prove his claims that the report is false and the message board comments weren't actually his. Democrats from Josh Stein to Kamala Harris, meanwhile, have ramped up their efforts to tie Robinson to Republican candidates up and down the ballot as the GOP seeks to keep its legislative supermajority. New polling shows some voters are changing their minds, but perhaps not as many as Democrats would like to see.

State lawmakers finally pass a massive school voucher expansion bill, plus new WRAL News poll numbers show a tight presidential race but a widening contest for governor in NC. Also, what are undocumented immigrants actually costing North Carolina taxpayers? 

The NC Board of Elections looks into Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC, while a liberal nonprofit accuses a conservative counterpart of bankrolling a powerful state lawmaker. Plus, the money's rolling in from the first quarter of sports betting in NC , while the state treasurer is sounding the alarm about the fiscal future of the state health plan. 

Joe Biden is out, Kamala Harris is in, and North Carolina's Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is among the top vice presidential candidates for the Harris 2024 campaign. WRAL's state politics team explains the benefits he could bring to the ticket, but also how Republicans might try to use it against Harris. Plus, we cover the lawsuits targeting the NC State Board of Elections over recent decisions to deny Cornel West and approve Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's wife is under scrutiny, after her government-funded nonprofit was ordered to repay $132,000 by state investigators.

There's major turnover in state government with the resignation or retirement of multiple state lawmakers, chiefs of staff and university chancellors. Josh Stein and Mark Robinson are obliterating campaign fundraising records as voters key in on the race to replace Gov. Roy Cooper....who's now at the center of veepstakes rumors. If President Joe Biden shutters his reelection campaign and turns the reins over to Vice President Kamala Harris, could Cooper become her VP pick? That's what lots of political insiders think, and we explain why it could make sense. Meanwhile, following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, polls show Americans have steadily become more willing to accept violence to achieve their political goals. Why it's a problem that can't just be fixed by politicians telling their supporters to tone it down.